Quest
by Rebel Hawk cont
Summary: Twin elves, separated at birth. Their parents; dead. One twin lives in Lothlorien, with her mother's family; the other roams the wilderness. Both think they are their parent's only child. What happens when fate turns her eyes towards them?
1. Default Chapter

Cometwen smiled as the butterfly perched on her finger, admiring its emerald wings. Another butterfly, this one a golden brown, perched in her midnight hair. The elven maiden smiled, placing a slender hand on her large belly.  
  
"You see, my darling? If you wait, they will come." She murmured, patting her stomach gently. The child in her stirred, as if it knew what she was saying. The butterflies took flight, spiralling into the golden leafed mallorn trees of Lothlorien, as another maiden walked into the little garden.  
  
"Hail, Cometwen Elmtall, sister mine." The newcomer said, smiling and offering her hand. Cometwen smiled back, accepting the hand.  
  
"Hail, Filamae Newgreen, sister mine. How is little Filamena?" She inquired. Filamae rolled her eyes, helping her sister to her feet.  
  
"Getting under our feet again. I say she has the energy of the new green itself, as says her name." She said, guiding Cometwen through an arch.  
  
"You shouldn't have come down. You know your own little one is due soon, and it pains you much to climb back up, even with rests at every talan along the way." Filamae scolded gently. Her sister sighed and looked away, a wistful smile playing across her rose lips.   
  
"But the butterflies don't come up anymore, now that it is autumn. The only way I can see them is to come down here. They like me coming, even if you don't." She said, and Filamae took her turn to sigh.  
  
"You and the butterflies. I only hope your little one isn't harmed by all this climbing." They reached a particular tree. Filamae whistled softly, and a grey silk rope ladder came slithering down the trunk. A small form with white-blonde hair followed it in a half-fall.   
  
"Ah, Filamena, there you are. Where were you this morning? Your father and I were looking everywhere." Filamae scolded, frowning.  
  
"I was over at the southern gate, talking with the gate-wardens. They tell wonderful stories, mother." Filamena said earnestly, and smiled at Cometwen. The little elf girl lay a hand on her aunt's stomach, and gasped in delight when she felt the child move.  
  
"She's moving much more now, isn't she?" The little girl asked, her blue eyes wide. Cometwen laughed softly.  
  
"Are you sure it's a she?" She asked, emerald eyes twinkling. Filamena nodded solemnly, and received another gentle laugh before her mother shooed her back up the mallorn-tree. Cometwen started the climb up, wincing as a sharp pain hit her in the stomach. The little one was due any day now, and she would be glad when it was born. Orcs had killed her love, the father of her child, before she knew she was with child. Her family had grieved with her, and she had taken up Filamae's offer of a home, but seeing little Filamena's happiness with her father and mother only saddened her. Time would come when she would have to tell her own child that it had no father. She faltered on the ladder as another sharp pain ripped through her body.  
  
"Cometwen?" Filamae called from below her.  
  
"I'm- I'm alright." She gasped for breath, then continued the climb upwards. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have climbed down to greet the butterflies.   
  
"Here's a talan. Rest awhile." Her sister called a little later. Cometwen set herself down on the talan gratefully, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. A hand rested on her shoulder, and she looked up into Filamae's worried face. Her vision swam as another pain made her gasp, and little Filamena joined her mother.   
  
"Your little one..." Filamae whispered, and Cometwen nodded.  
  
"She's coming?" Filamena was delighted.  
  
"Yes. You go and get help, my daughter. Quickly!" Filamae said, and her daughter scurried up the tree again so fast she looked as if she flew. Cometwen's chest heaved as she gasped for breath, half-joyfully, half-horrified. She wasn't ready for this! Couldn't her child wait a little, until she was safely snuggled back in her home, with a midwife and her family? Minutes passed, and the elven woman groaned as another pain ripped through her.  
  
"Hush. Take my hand." Her sister's wondrously cool hand slipped inside hers, and she clutched it fearfully. She heard voices coming closer, and someone jumped down onto the talan.  
  
"Cometwen..." Filamae's soft voice cut through her swimming head, and she forced her eyes open.   
  
"Do you think you can sit on this?" Her sister motioned to a thing shaped like a large chair, attached to a pulley. Cometwen nodded, and was helped onto it. She gripped the sides hard, sweat pouring down her face. It started moving up, and a white-blonde streak dropped into view beside her. It was Filamena.  
  
"You'll be okay, mother said you will be." The little girl said encouragingly, climbing beside the pulley as it raised Cometwen up. She just smiled at her sister's daughter, hoping upon hope that the words would be true.   
  
*~*~*~* 


	2. Chapter 2

"A girl, sister! A beautiful little girl." Filamae's voice cut through her pain, and Cometwen forced her eyes open. With great effort, she took her child from the midwife. Another pain racked her body, and she cried out with desperation. She had had her little one, why were they still happening?   
  
"Filamae, make her push!" The midwife said, and Cometwen thought with horrified humour that she heard glee in her voice. What were these people making her do? She heard Filamae's encouraging murmurs, and set herself to another round.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Minutes later, there was another child. This one a male. Cometwen, through a haze of pain, knew that her end was coming. There had not been twins for as long as they could remember, and longer. She struggled to sit up, and reached for her children. They were placed in her arms.  
  
"Filamae, sister mine..." She croaked, each word an effort. Her sister came closer, frowning.  
  
"Cometwen..." The elf woman trailed off as she saw the look in her sister's eyes.   
  
"Filamae, sister mine... look after my children." Cometwen said, then spoke no more. Filamae took the little ones from her sister's arms, and handed them to Filamena. Sadly, she drew a blanket over the lifeless from that was Cometwen Elmtall.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Filamae Newgreen was called before the Lady the next day. She stood, blue-green eyes glimmering sadly, her sister's two children in her slender arms. The Lady Galadriel motioned her forward.  
  
"Filamae Newgreen, whose are these little ones? They are not yours?" The Lady asked.  
  
"Nay, Lady. My sister, Cometwen Elmtall, birthed them." She spoke, firm and sad.  
  
"And your sister, she has passed?"  
  
" Aye, Lady, she has. Her request was for me to look after her children." Filamae tightened her hold on the bundles.  
  
"You have your own daughter, do you not? Yes? Do you think it possible to raise two more children?" The Lady met her eyes, and Filamae held them for awhile, then looked away. Not many could hold the Lady's gaze for long.  
  
"I... am uncertain, Lady." She said quietly.  
  
"Will you let me see the children, Filamae Newgreen?" Galadriel asked softly. With a nod, the younger elven woman surrendered her charges. The Lady of Lothlorien gazed at them for a moment.  
  
"The boy, he shall be sent to our cousins in the North, to Rivendell, as soon as he is strong enough. You have family there, do you not? He shall be well looked after. The female child, you shall raise as if she were yours. I give my blessing for them both." The Lady proclaimed, and handed them back to Filamae.   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Filamena sat on the edge of the talan outside her home, a toddler in her arms, thinking. It had been three years since her father had rode north with the precious bundle, her aunt's son. Cometashi, known fondly as Comet, was the toddler she now held, her aunt's daughter. The cheeky little girl grasped a lock of white-blonde hair and yanked.  
  
"Oww, Comet, don't!" Filamena yelped, untangling her hair from the girl's fist. Comet giggled looking up at her cousin with twinkling emerald eyes.   
  
"What are you two playing at now?" Filamae came out and sat beside her, smiling at the cheeky little one tenderly. In the three years since her sister's death, the elven woman had come to love her niece like a daughter.   
  
"She's pulling my hair again, mother." Filamena said.  
  
"Well, pull back." Filamae tweaked Comet's topknot of midnight hair, in demonstration. The youngster giggled and swatted her hand, and both older elves laughed. Cometashi, daughter of Cometwen, certainly was one of the family.  
  
*~*~*~* 


	3. Chapter 3

Twen drew the string back carefully, conscious of his uncle standing behind him. With a twang, he let the arrow fly. It lodged in the throat of the grass-stuffed fox, and his uncle smiled.  
  
"Good shot, Twen. Watch your fingers, though. They twiddled and pinched the nock slightly as you aimed." Reschar said, and the young archer nodded. He plucked the shaft from the target, and slid it into his quiver. His uncle declared it time to stop for the day, and they started to walk home. Twen had to jog to keep up with Reschar's longer strides, and the older elf slowed for him.  
  
"Tomorrow we'll start on moving targets. I'm sure Jiishana would love to swing a target around for you. Especially if she could make it hit you a couple times." His uncle said, naming Twen's feisty younger cousin. They both laughed, but the boy had something else on his mind,  
  
"Uncle, what happened to my parents?" Twen said suddenly, steeling himself for the answer. Ever since his friend Elladan had asked about his parents, the young elf had been restless. How come he lived with his aunt and uncle? All they had told him was that he had been brought from Lothlorien when he was but a baby, by Reschar's brother.   
  
"Your parents..." Reschar trailed off, then stopped walking. He led Twen over to a bench and sat him down.  
  
"I suppose it is time you knew... Twen, your parents are dead. Your mother died giving birth to you and your sister, and left the two of you to the care of her sister. Your father had been killed by Orcs some time before. The Lady of Lothlorien declared that you would be sent here, to us, and so my brother brought you." Reschar stopped, seeing the look on Twen's face, and stood.  
  
"Come home when you're ready." He said, and walked away. Twen sat for awhile, thinking. His uncle had said that he had a sister in Lothlorien. She would still be there, wouldn't she? What if... what if he could find her? But he was too young to travel far from Rivendell, his aunt Laurdrey had told him so every time he had mentioned that he wished he could see something, like the woods of Lothlorien. Still...  
  
"Twen?" Jiishana called from down the path. He decided he would think about this again later, when his pesky cousin wasn't around to annoy him.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Comet? Where are you?" Her aunt Filamae walked into the garden where she was lying in the lush Lothlorien grass.  
  
"Now what are you doing?" Filamae said, smiling.  
  
"Watching the butterflies. If you wait long enough, they'll come real close." Cometashi Elmtall said softly, reaching out a slender hand to the red butterfly spiralling in the air. It perched on her finger for a moment, flicking its wings, but darted away when Filamae laughed gently, sitting beside her niece.   
  
"You sound just like your mother." The older elf said, smiling at her. Comet propped herself up on one elbow, long midnight-coloured hair cascading over her shoulders, emerald eyes wistful.  
  
"What was my mother like?" She asked. Filamae's eyes flickered with pain for a moment, then she smiled again.  
  
"Cometwen was just like you. She loved coming down to greet the butterflies, especially in spring. Even when you and your brother were in her belly, she didn't stop coming down. I tried to stop her, but she slipped off when I wasn't looking. The day you were born, she came down for the last time..." There was that flicker of pain again, but Comet brushed it aside for a time. Her aunt had said something that had triggered her curiosity.  
  
"My brother?" She asked, frowning. Filamae gasped quietly and put her hand on her heart.  
  
"I wasn't meant to say anything! No, don't ask me again. You will be told when the time comes. Now come up, we have a surprise for you." The older elf stood and helped her niece to her feet, and they climbed back up to the treetop home.   
  
*~*~*~* 


	4. Chapter 4

"Concentrate, Twen!" His uncle's voice called. The boy panted, grabbing another arrow from the quiver strapped to his back and nocked it to the bow, running backwards as Jiishana, up in the tree above him, swung the target his way. Waiting until it was away from him, he loosed the arrow and heard it thunk into the target. He smiled with satisfaction, lowering the ebony bow. The next moment he had to duck as the cheeky elf maiden swung it at him again.   
  
"That's enough, Jiishana. Good work, Twen. We'll work on it again tomorrow." Reschar called. The two younger elves nodded, and helped to pack up the target. As they were walking back, Jiishana looked at him, frowning.  
  
"Twen, what did father tell you yesterday? When I came to find you, you looked like you had been shot or something." The little girl asked him, curiously. Twen gave her a weak lop-sided grin.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Jiishana. You have more important things to think about, like staying out of trouble." He said, teasing her half-heartedly. The youngster rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"But I haven't done much... I only hid father's bow for half a day. And mother wasn't that angry when I pulled out her flowers instead of the weeds..." Jiishana trailed off, and they both laughed. Everyone knew that the she caused trouble as often as an archer shot arrows. The subject of Twen's unhappiness was dropped, for the moment.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Comet stared in awe at what greeted her. There was her cousin Filamena, grinning and holding out to her a mahogany bow. She took it with trembling hands and looked it over. It was much better than her old ash one.   
  
"Well, are you going to try it out?" Her cousin demanded lightly. The bow was already strung, and Comet caught the string with her fingers, drawing it back easily to her ear a few times. It bent beautifully, and she grinned.  
  
"It's wonderful... thank you." She grasped the taller girl in a tight hug. The two cousins had been closer than sisters for longer than Comet could remember, and even now they told each other everything. Filamena smiled, and led her inside.  
  
Later, they sat on the edge of the talan outside of their treetop home, watching the sun set. Filamena was restless, glancing at her cousin out of the corner of her eye every few minutes.  
  
"What?" Comet asked finally.   
  
"Nothing..." The older elf girl was quiet for a minute or two, then turned back to her.  
  
"Mother told me that you caught her mentioning your brother, earlier." She said. Comet nodded, and waited anxiously.  
  
"Well, I can tell you... about... well, you know... if you want me to." Filamena told her quietly. The younger elf's heart leapt. Finally! She nodded eagerly, and her cousin smiled half-heartedly.  
  
"Well... your mother was my aunt, Cometwen. She birthed you and your brother, as twins, then died, leaving you both with her sister, my mother. The Lady called her, and told her to send your brother to Rivendell, to live with my father's brother. You stayed here with us." Filamena said, and watched the other girl's face. Comet didn't know what to say, or feel. Her mind was racing. Why hadn't anyone told her before? Why had she not asked before?   
  
"Comet? Filamena?" Filamae called from inside. They got up and went in, Comet staring into space. Did her brother know about this? What if he didn't care? She went to a window and looked out at the stars, wondering if her brother in Rivendell was doing the same thing.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Twen gazed at the stars out of his window, thinking about his sister. Was she looking at the stars too, in the far away woods of Lothlorien, thinking of him? He sighed, wishing he could meet her. Maybe someday he would.  
  
*~*~*~* 


	5. Chapter 5

Comet sighed, startling a gold-and-red butterfly from her wild black curls. Another one, emerald green like her eyes, landed on a branch next to her. She was down in the grove again, talking with the butterflies. This was her mother's favourite grove too... Filamae had told her everything last night, after the young elf had confronted her aunt about her brother. Her mother, Cometwen... how Comet wished that she still lived.   
  
"Do you enjoy the butterflies too, Cometashi?" A sweet voice, like the river singing, said behind her. The elf girl leapt up, her winged friends taking to the air in a whirlwind around her. When they had fluttered over to sit on branches, she saw the Lady of the Wood standing next to a tree-trunk. She bowed, her tangled locks sweeping over her shoulders.  
  
"Yes, Lady. I like them very much." Comet said quietly, straightening, unsure of herself. She had never talked with the Lady Galadriel before. Filamae had, and she thought Filamena had gone to see her once, but never the wild green-eyed orphan.   
  
"Sit with me a minute. If we wait, they will came back." The Lady of the Golden Wood sat on the bench, and, at her bidding, Comet sat next to her. After a few moments, a silver butterfly fluttered over to them and perched with delicate care on the younger elf's midnight hair.  
  
"Cometashi, I came to talk with you about your brother. Your cousin, Filamena, told you about him last night, I believe?" Galadriel asked her softly, voice as sweet as the winged ones that rode the breeze around them. The young woman hesitated, softly stroking the velvet wings of a blue butterfly that had landed on her finger.  
  
"Yes, Lady, Filamena told me last night." She told her softly. What was the honoured one getting at? There was nothing more to say about her brother... was there?  
  
"Then you want to go and see him?" The Lady turned to her, meeting her emerald eyes and piercing the young one's mind with her own blue orbs. Comet felt as if her thoughts were being scrutinised carefully, and hung her head.  
  
"Yes, Lady." She whispered. A slender, milky hand lifted her chin, and she gazed into Galadriel's eyes once more, but the gaze was softer this time, and she could endure it.  
  
"Twins are rarely born to elven folk, and even when they are, the mother has a high chance of dying whilst giving birth. Twins born in those circumstances deserve to mourn their mother together. Go and seek him, Cometashi, and bring him back to his homeland. You have my blessing." The Lady of the Golden Wood let her hand fall, and stood, walking away from the clearing. Comet sat a while more, thinking. The Lady wanted her to find her brother. Filamae would let her go, wouldn't she? If Lady Galadriel wanted her to go, her aunt would surely give in? As darkness started to fall, the worried young woman bade her winged friends farewell and trudged back up the tree to her home.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"What do you think I should do, cousin?" Comet asked the older maiden. Filamena sighed, running a brush through her white-gold hair.  
  
"Well, if it displeases you so much to know he's out there but you don't know him, then I say 'go'. But I'm not so sure about mother... even though the Lady did give you her blessing." She set down her brush and picked up a fine-toothed comb, setting to work on her cousin's hair.  
  
"For one thing, we should be worried that you'll come home and we'll have to cut the tangles out of your hair. Really, Comet, it's as if you go rolling around in the bushes like a beast!" Filamena laughed, pulling a leaf out of the wild black curls and tickling Comet's ear. The younger elf giggled, brushing it away.  
  
"Filly, do you honestly think I should go to Rivendell?" She said quietly, turning her head to gaze out the window at the stars. Her cousin sighed again.  
  
"Yes, I do. But Mother won't. So heres a plan: sneak out. Leave it to me to reason with Mother. If you mention anything at all about leaving, she'll be sure to keep one eye on you at all times, and you won't get the chance. So sneak out. Simple." Filamena faced the girl, barely old enough to be a young woman, and hugged her. Comet hugged back, but frowned.  
  
"But... she'll be mad, and worried about me. Worried sick. And she'll probably blame you. I don't want to do that to you, Filly..."  
  
"Don't worry about me, Comet. She's my mother, I can handle her moods. And I know you'll be fine. She knows it too, but that's just adults. Always saying you'll get into trouble." Filamena laughed, but it was forced and her eyes were filled with tears as she pulled away. Comet knew she would miss her cousin, but she had to find her brother. It just felt so... lonely, all of a sudden, knowing he was out there but not with her.  
  
"Thank you." She whispered. So it was settled. As soon as she could, Cometashi Elmtall would go to Rivendell to find her brother.  
  
*~*~*~* 


End file.
